Allison Anders
Grace of My Heart, written and directed by Allison Anders, follows her films Gas Food Lodging and Mi Vida Loca. It chronicles the life of singer/songwriter Denise Waverly through the doo-wop days of the Brill Building in New York from the late '50s through the psychedelic rock scene of L.A. in the late 60's. Executive producer is Martin Scorsese.
This story has been inside of you for a long time. I read that you've had the idea since film school.
Being a fan of that music I would examine my record sleeves. So in the 80's I started finding out more about the Brill Building. And even if people don't think they know what the Brill Building is, they've probably listened to about five songs a day that were written in this one building in a period between '59 to about '65. Everyone wrote there. Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neal Sedaka, Ali Greenwich and Jeff Barry, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Neil Diamond. Gene Pittney, Paul Simon. Also record producers, because they made the records right there in the building. They were all incredibly young, working in this building together, running from room to room checking each other's stuff out. And that's what it was like in film school.
So I was curious about the stories that went on there. That stayed around in me for awhile, and then when I met Illeana Douglas it seemed like exactly the right story to tell, with her personality and her sort of dual ironic nature, where she can play a couple of different feelings at the time.
So you wrote the part with Illeana in mind?
Actually I wrote all the characters for the actors who played them. I was just lucky that they read the script and agreed! But I wrote with all of them in mind, with the exception of the Bruce Davison character. But that was the character that was a personal thing for me, trying to work out a relationship through the film. So it was kind of hard for me to find the guy!
Have you had a relationship,like the one between Illeana Douglas and John Turturro, that's had such a big impact on your life?
Well yes, I have. I named Joel after my manager. That relationship is very similar, and also my relationship with my producer Dan Hassid who's been on all my films. It's a great relationship for a woman when there's no sexual tension, where that boundary is extremely clear. I love relationships like that with men.
You're one of a handful of women directors who are getting to make the films they want to make. How did you do it? It is because of the stories you've told, or relationships you've had, or because of your own personality, or...?
It might be that I do tell certain types of stories. Not all women directors want to stay focused on feminine issues but for some reason I do. I don't know why that is. In film school my main characters were always men, and then in Gas Food Lodging, this feminine voice evolved. But in my very first little movie that I co-directed with my boyfriend at the time, we were constantly having a power struggle over whether the woman should be stronger or the man should be stronger. And once he moved out my work became extremely feminine and his became totally macho. And it's funny that it took ending that relationship to find out where I needed to go. It's very similar to Denise; finding your voice through disappointments.
The scene in the film where she finally records her song "God Give Me Grace" is so powerful and then she has to face the let down of the song being a failure.
The film would have been very different if that had been a hit for her. At one point there was a little worry when the song came back so good. How do we explain that this wasn't a hit? But that happens all the time .
Did you get "final cut"?
I've only gotten final cut in my contract once and that was on Four Rooms. And it's the only time that it hasn't felt like final cut. I don't feel like that movie is very much mine.
I think that on Grace Marty [Scorcese] probably had final cut and gave it to me. But obviously if I were straying and delivering a four-hour shapeless movie, he would have stepped in. This film more than any other feels really like it's mine. I think that's because the people around me understood what film I wanted to make.
Lets talk about the music and your collaboration with Karyn Rachtman and Larry Klein.
When I first decided to do all original music and talked to Karyn about pairing songwriters and creating songwriting teams, she had something in her hand and she dropped it, and she said: "That's a great idea, and I'm going to kill you because it's going to be so much work!"
The great awesome team that she came up with was Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. It was amazing that she envisioned them and put them together. And she brought me Larry. At first we were going to have different producers but I met him and I just loved him.
Wim Wenders had a big influence on you. How did you get to know him?
I wrote him obsessive fan mail! I saw his films, and I decided that's what I wanted to do. The way that he approached character, and pacing. That was where I wanted to be. I wrote him letters for a year and a half, and eventually he came and saw my very first movie at UCLA. And then I went to work for him on Paris, Texas. I finagled this grant by lying and saying that he had invited me to study under him. So when he came to see my movie I said "I've won this grant!", and he said "Congratulations." And I said, "yeah, it's to study under you on Paris, Texas!" And he said: "Well, I guess you have to come then."
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